Corazon Mining Clears Chalice Tenure Hurdle as New Gold Targets Emerge

Corazon Mining (ASX: CZN) has cleared a key condition in its planned consolidation around the Chalice gold project after the holder of first-refusal rights over tenements E15/1705 and E15/1721 elected not to exercise them, allowing the transaction to move towards completion by 2 October.

The tenure package would extend Corazon’s footprint across more than 40 kilometres of prospective greenstone belt north and south of Chalice, where a review of historical drilling has identified multiple high-priority gold targets for immediate follow-up.

The Southern Corridor is the first priority, with historical drilling returning 15 metres at 16.19 grams per tonne gold from surface, alongside narrower high-grade results including 2m at 41.31g/t from 134m and 4m at 9.50g/t from 52m.

Corazon is progressing the documentation required to complete the tenure transaction, which will extend its exploration reach beyond the existing Chalice mining lease and mineral resource into a continuous corridor containing targets both north and south of the deposit.

The district expansion comes as Corazon prepares Phase 1 resource-growth drilling at Chalice after defining a maiden Exploration Target of between 9.7 and 12.3 million tonnes at 1.9g/t to 2.1g/t, equivalent to about 600,000 to 830,000 ounces of contained gold.

District-Scale Tenure

The Southern Corridor contains a coherent north-northwest trending mineralised system that remains open along strike and at depth, with Corazon’s first-pass review identifying multiple under-drilled sub-parallel structures capable of providing additional targets for systematic testing.

To the north, favourable host rocks and interpreted mineralising structures continue through a corridor that has received limited modern gold exploration, giving Corazon scope to apply regional geochemistry, detailed geological mapping, and targeted geophysical surveys across the broader belt.

“This acquisition provides significant upside for Corazon, with the gold rights across E15/1705 and E15/1721 adding real potential to grow our ounces,” managing director Simon Coyle said.

“Parts of this package have been drilled historically but seen minimal follow-up in recent years, and we're excited about what that represents.”

“Historical work here focused on nickel and lithium, so the gold opportunity is largely untested.”

Broader Growth Base

The Chalice Exploration Target is inclusive of the existing 191,000oz mineral resource rather than additional to it, with the extra mineralisation remaining conceptual because there has been insufficient exploration to classify it as a separate resource.

Its scale is supported by an extensive historical dataset comprising about 370 drill holes together with underground face and sludge sampling, with interpretation outlining a mineralised system extending approximately 1.7km along strike and 700m vertically.

Unlike the current mineral resource, which was estimated on the basis of an underground mining method, the Exploration Target incorporates both near-surface mineralisation and targets at depth, including areas around and beyond the previous mine workings.

The lower case of 9.7Mt at 1.9g/t is derived from preliminary exploration block modelling within interpreted mineralised wireframes, while the upper case of 12.3Mt at 2.1g/t incorporates conceptual strike, down-dip and footwall extensions supported by surrounding historical drilling and sampling.

Drilling Links Core and Corridor

Corazon plans a minimum 7,500m reverse circulation drilling program at Chalice over the next six months, subject to funding, access and regulatory approvals, with Phase 1 resource-growth drilling expected to commence in the coming weeks and initially focus on southern mineralised zones.

The drilling is designed to test strike and down-dip extensions, improve confidence across areas of wider drill spacing, and provide additional information on mineralised widths, structural controls and grade continuity before Corazon considers whether further mineral resource estimation is appropriate.

Beyond the existing deposit, the company intends to progress geological interpretation, surface geochemistry, targeted geophysics, and drill testing across the tenure package, prioritising the Southern Corridor before extending the same district-scale approach to targets farther north.

Chalice produced more than 645,000 ounces of gold from open pit and underground operations at average mined grades of about 5.4g/t to 5.5g/t between 1995 and 2014, giving Corazon an established high-grade system at the centre of its enlarged exploration footprint.

“Together, these two opportunities give Corazon multiple near-term avenues to add ounces and continue our transition from early-stage explorer to WA gold developer," Mr Coyle added.